The Truth About Reason 12 

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Three things: 1) This video - the content, the production, the tone - are EXCELLENT. 2) Your points well made and your points are spot-on. 3) Yours is the only Reason-focused RU-vid channel that I regularly check out. Looking forward to the journey. Peace.

Spot on, i agree 100%. Started with Version 2.0 and invested a gazillion shitloads of time and money into the Reason ecosystem. That's why i still use it as my main production software, although i started using Studio One in parallel. I would NEVER choose Reason now if i had to start from zero. This company gives me hardly any reason to believe they have a plan for the future ...

This video was necessary. Thank you for being honest and sincere. I stopped upgrading at R11, and now I’m thinking about migration to Ableton or fl. I am waiting to see if as they told vst3 support is done at last. Meanwhile I won’t spend a single cent more in any of Reason products, they did enough money with me as a customer. Also, their customer attention service sucks.

You had me at "a cracked version of reason 5" had me on a crazy nostalgia kick with that one line

Been a die-hard supporter and promoter of Reason since 2.0. By the announcement of Reason 12.0, I decided to very sceptically 'try out' a demo of Ableton. The first extremely positive flag was that their demo was 3 months in duration. That is just pure confidence of a quality product! I could not belieeeeeve how much easier the workflow was. You can tell Ableton have truly THOUGHT about the process of making music EASY for users. In excitement, I bought the full suite before the demo was even up and I haven't looked back since. I want my money back for all them weak 'refills' and all the extra proprietary foolishness you tricked me into all these years. Reason can kiss my effing arse.

Incredibly in-depth video! Hopefully they’re listening. It’s like having a home that needs a new foundation, but the contractors keeps showing you how they updated the kitchen and painted the walls.

I am one of those recent Johnny-come-late customers you speak of. It’s not my main squeeze but when the Reason+ vst came along I jumped in (thanks to your videos by the way), and now I’m heavily invested, both creatively and psychologically. But I can’t say that I ever understood the business model, and that’s why I appreciate this video. You really laid it out so well, so much of what I’ve been struggling to articulate. Much love and appreciation!

I got a good laugh with that "does reason have a rack for that" line. I have been with Reason since 2.5 (Cracked) I bought Reason 3 and have been using ever since. I even refused to use Protools in audio school and did all my projects in reason/record. Got so many classmates to hop on the Reason train with me. At 6.5 i jump into rack extensions. while so many class mates were trading VSTs. I was still in love. Over the years I started seeing the patterns you mentioned. Rebranding refills as rack extensions (RDK still has a multi output bug that drives me crazy, its been so long and I've reported it at least 4 times over the years.) The players that almost do the job but hit a wall very quickly when you want to dive deep. The once innovative company became stale. A dinosaur sequencer workflow. And then bad update after bad update. Their biggest problem is they think the are still innovating music creation, and they very much are not. I was so upset when they announced the rack plugin. Like just fix the DAW and youll get more people using it again! nope. The go full greedy, sub service higher prices, and this terrible R12 update that is still broken for me. GAAHHHHH! I started using Studio One about a year ago. I'm on their subscription service for $15 a month. Better deal with more value in my opinion. S1 has nearly every feature I've been asking for in Reason for the last 10+ years. I don't need sound packs, I'm a sound designer. I don't need players, I put in the work, I am a player. I know theory, don't need a device that knows less about theory. I needed video support for my film work. S1 has that. I still use the RRP on almost every track. but its a less of a go to. If I only had stock reason, I wouldn't bother. But I have over 300 rack extensions. Some I still love. So that why the thing that initially pissed me off, makes me happy, Thanks Reason Rack Plugin. But some of the modern VSTs I have collected over the last couple years outshine the REs. and I can see Reason being a lesser part of my workflow in the future. I was a fan boy, They were my absolute favorite company that I thought could do no wrong. Damn, I was wrong about that. I'd be ok with a few mistakes here and there. Its been what? 7 years of mistake after mistake...Damn I ranted. TDLR. I agree with you. Thanks for making this video. I know you have been a longtime collaborator with them. You have some of the highest rated sound packs on R+. I hope more Reason content creators speak up. It will make a difference. We have enough devices, effects, players whatever. The community wants to be heard. enough big voices speak up. I think we can turn them around. Im done updating Reason. I have 12. Don't need anything else, well, except for the bug fixes. If they make me upgrade to 13 to fix them, I guess at this point, I won't be surprised. RRP crashes too damn much. damn still ranting..........................

im so very proud of you for not getting caught up in the love and history you have with reason that ultimately put you in a place you have achieved.But ultimately recognizing the void that they have left unfilled and speaking out on it openly..so very proud you girl.

That was one of the better DAW-related videos I've seen. No stammering, no 'uh' or 'like,' --- just the best words in the best order. Nothing too esoteric or complicated, nicely explained, and shared by a human that seems to care about sharing some insight. I don't usually gush over videos, but this is good. Thanks.

Good to hear you speaking out about them. They really don't seem to have their stuff together, and my big worry is that what we're seeing now is a desperate attempt to keep the company afloat.

Very well reasoned critique of the Reason world. I was an early Propellerhead customer, but had drifted away. I’ve been giving Reason+a try, to see what it’s grown into. Reason has been a great creative tool for me, especially as a VST in Live. I have been thinking about maybe committing a bit further, but you paint a bleak picture! You’re one of the best sources of Reason content, for sure, so maybe they’ll pay attention..You’d think they’d listen to reason.

Love Reason, but version 11 will be my last upgrade until they do better. Also, I'm using Logic Pro more and more.

I dunno.... I've been using Reason since 2010 (version 4), it was my entry into digital music production, which means that it's shaped the way I make music. For me the rack environment is what it's all about, and in spite of Reason Studios' various hiccups & fuck ups over the past couple of years, the rack still delivers the goods. There are things I'd like to see implemented and/or improved, but that's the case with every DAW. And like a lot of people, I'm impatient for VST3 support and native M1 support. But in spite of all this, I can still make music the way I want, and even after 12 years I feel I'm only using Reason to maybe 60% of its capacity & still learning new stuff. I think that the shift from Propellerheads to Reason Studios has resulted in an unfortunate sort of "vibe" - I work in a large corporation, and it's been a bummer to see the same sort of horrible management-speak and "hey, we're all a big family" wank starting to emerge in communications from the Reason peeps. And the release of 12 has been (and continues to be) a complete clusterfuck. But again, when I get away from RU-vid and get away from all the bitching on the Reason forums, and just open Reason and get down to making music (which admittedly until recently meant opening Reason 11, because 12 was too buggy), the experience is as great as ever. And surely that's what counts. I don't care that some newer REs are just repackaged refills. I don't care that some of the players are a bit of a gimmick, designed for people who've never made music before and want to start banging out shitty tunes. I don't care that Reason Studios are handing out treats to new & prospective users rather than to longstanding "loyal" customers. At the end of the day, am I still finding the Reason experience creative, challenging and rewarding? Fuck yes I am. All that said, I'm slightly concerned about the direction the company seems to be going in, with resources directed to R+ rather than improving the DAW, and I guess I won't be too surprised if one day they drop the DAW and/or the license altogether. If that happens, you know what? I'll switch to another DAW. And who knows, the new environment & new learning curve might result in me making better music. Nothing lasts forever, nothing goes the way you want it to forever.

I've used Reason for 12 years and finally last month I gave up on Reason Studios! I switched to Studio One and my work flow is 100 now. I'll never give reason studios another dime! Thank you sister!

Love the delivery style. I'd like to see you cover "hidden" Reason gems like the Refills from Sonic Reality and BitleyTM, and how much "juice" can be squeezed out of them with a little patch tweaking and use of effects.

Good video and I think a decent summary of what many loyal Reason customers think. I joined the Reason party late with R11 but quickly learned about all their wrong doings through the comments and the forum. I think I joined at a great time with all the basics covered (most importantly VST supp) and a workflow that instantly connected with me. I used Fl for 6 years (my first DAW) and got tired of their window management and mixer setup. I looked into Ableton Live but never got into the workflow (worst for me was the navigation in the sequencer and uninspired design eventhough I like minimalistic software). Reason has a great workflow with fantastically designed devices and new stuff coming regularly. FL studio offers life time free updates and I‘m still following their socials but since I left I have not seen a single update that would fix my specific needs. Fl studio is also stuck in their own design philosophy which fits many people but not me. Your criticisms is fair and Reason is behind in so many aspects of the development. I hope they follow through and start to rebuild the architecture of Reason to make it easier to implement new features and upgrade old devices. I will follow their actions closely and decide for each new offer if I spend the money and not blindly upgrade everytime. But at the end of the day is Reason 12 a great product (now with most of the major bugs fixed) which works for me and it does not hold me back in any way. My favourite artists worked in DAWs 10-15 years ago with less features and they still produced my favourite songs. Cheers.

Extremely well said and articulated. I'm sure the folks at Reason are listening but nothing significant if anything will change. You summed up the Reason DAW when you mentioned "workaround".

I upgraded to 12 just to say I have the latest version. And though I like Mimic, there's a part of me that believes I should have stayed with 11. Additionally, all the bells and whistles don't matter if one's vision isn't realized or the music isn't good. I'll part with this. Your post was very eye-opening for a fellow Reason loyalist like myself. Thank you for adding new perspective.

I used Reason since day 1, the concept of racks and cables was just the way I was working in my analog studio. And to this day I'm still using it for everything. The new vocoder is awesome. The Reason+ packs provide lots of new ideas to play around with. This software has never crashed on me.. not once! I'm using rack extensions, VSTs, I have all I need. In my years of producing I came to realize that it's about the result, not how you get there. For the kind of stuff I'm producing... I'm still super happy with it. And as you said it's a business. There's always room for improvement, but don't tell me the same doesn't go for Logic, ProTools, Ableton and others as well....

I used to love Reason… I eventually gave up and moved to other DAWs based on the points you listed. Reason’s primary focus should be taking care of current customers and keeping up with the times…

I've done some of my best work exclusively in Reason over the last 8, 9 years. It is a unique (and at times challenging but rewarding) environment to work in. And I definitely do things in it that I can't or don't do in other DAWs. My partner loves it too - she's found and created her sound entirely in Reason and I'm really glad I introduced her to it! Still, I find myself opening Live more and more through necessity these days. Mostly to get at an annoyingly small number of common sense/quality of life features. Which is kind of a shame. I mean I'm happy that I have the tools I need, and I know I can use RRP, but I just wanted them in Reason. The Player integration is great. Automation clips are still my favourite (compared to the line/point system). I think the included devices are fantastic. The audio pitch editing is decent, Live doesn't even have that! So it sucks to leave some of that behind. My greatest frustration has always been that for me , Reason is about 6 features away from being close to perfect. I just don't know if they're ever coming. I'll be interested to see where things are at after M1 and VST3. Someone did make the point that, as RRP doesn't host VSTs, VST3 support would indicate that they intend to continue developing the DAW. I hope that's the case!

I think it has been 10 years that I have watched you... Thank you so much. It's like you are apart of my 20s. I am now 31. Thank you!

This is why I didn’t upgrade to 12 I’ll just use my 11 suite until I feel like they did something I like

I've been a reason fan for many years. Reason is how I got into production. I've been on it since version 2.5. From there I had version 5 and then 10. A few weeks ago I upgraded from 10 to 12 mainly because I took an interest to the new players and they had (at the time i thought a good) deal where you get them all with the upgrade. But honestly I regret it. Seeing how easy it is to create music on other DAWs makes me feel like a fool for sticking with reason. For example, I recently got some gear that came with Ableton Lite, and omg I was impressed with how easy they make it to learn, as well as how easy it is to do things. I also envy the sequencer on FL studio, and learning that they offer FREE UPGRADES, I don't believe I made the best decision upgrading from 10 to 12. But I don't have a lot of money to throw around, so I'll be sticking with reason 12 for now :/

Well said! This breaks down everything I could ever say about reason.

Same as you I was with reason a looong time ( cracked version of reason 4 and I could see the value and after a wile I payed for reason 5) I updated on release day all the way to reason 10. But then they lost their way. I never upgraded to reason 11 and when reason 12 came out I forced my self to move to another DAW. I tried Logic but ended up on Studio One and am now very happy. Today I opened Reason to se if I could sample some of my old reason drum machines but ended up back in studio one with out using anything from reason. I just went on RU-vid to see if anything had changed with reason and found your post as the first thing I looked at. Clearly nothing has change. If they have pissed you off then they are clearly finished. Thanks for all your passed work you were a real motivation to me.

must not forget that many people want features that they have seen elsewhere (in other DAW) but do not necessarily need them, see will never use (this is a scenario that happens very often in computers), because as soon as they want a particular function that there isn't, it's as if they couldn't make music without this feature, that doesn't exclude well-founded and legitimate requests. for me Reason did not miss, it's a few permanently dissatisfied people who try to bring people back to their oppignon, which do a lot of damage to Reason I own and use FL, Bitwig and Ableton in addition to Reason, Reason makes some things more complicated but also a lot of other things easier to do than on other daws

I first used Reason way back in 2001. I loved it then - so “hands on” - it was way way ahead of its time back then. However, coming back into music production in recent years, I feel that Ableton offers a much faster workflow. The Reason rack is stupidly too big and it means I have to hunt for particular instruments/effects. It just looks “too much”. Ableton only shows you what you need to see on any given track. Reason shows you everything which makes it look cluttered and confusing.

Brilliant and entertaining insights as always. 100% on: 1) it's a business; 2) products have lifecycles that don't go on forever; and 3) it's tough to grow a business on old customers that already paid up. The company has a well documented history of poor leadership which resulted in an ongoing identity crisis. I work in software and understand that deadlines shift and that priorities change but to your point, they just flip flop on promises. I finally gave up on Reason being my all in one music production system and finally just went with Bitwig. Reason's like an old pair of shoes where I can quickly create samples to be used/mastered elsewhere.

I started with Cakewalk, then moved to Sonar (Ugh!), then Reason. It was like a breath of fresh air. An open, bright UI, with everything I needed in easy reach. But I have had some technical issues with R12, I'll be honest. Almost all popular DAWs have exactly the same main features, so my choice is based on price, workflow, stability and functionality. But no VST3 support in Reason means that, for those instruments requiring VST3 compatibility, I have to go elsewhere. So I went. I now work with 2 DAWs, and I suspect I'm slowly retreating from Reason. It's about two things: Trust and Confidence. If I trusted Reason Studios to prioritise the features I want in a timely way, and had enough confidence in the finished product not to mind waiting a bit - well, that would be it! But something tells me that Reason has always been behind the curve, and is falling further behind. I still love working in Reason - it's like an old friend - but I can no longer rely on it as my main DAW. Sad.

My solution is Bitwig. Used Reason since 2.0 and switched 2 years ago to Bitwig.

Girl you are so honest and real a great artist and humble keep it up

I’m with you 100%! Having started on Reason 1.0, it always been my daw of choice, but Reason Studios disappointed me over the last 2 years. I upgraded from R10 to 11 Suite and that was well worth it. But the jump from R11 Suite to R12 left a bad taste in my mouth. I really don’t think high Res graphics and smart browser were worth the cost of upgrade, and yes I love Mimic but I could had grabbed Serato Sample for a fraction of the upgrade cost. Also, I noticed that some RE developers like DNA Labs Software are now creating beautiful devices targeting the Reason + community leaving folks like me who didn’t own pattern mutator, algorith for example but up to date on upgrades with R12 scratching their head. With R11 Suite, I had the total package while R12 is basically looking to grab my money by adding new devices that I need as a loyal long time customer to purchase at full price. The lack of actual workflow improvement is really frustrating, it’s like putting a new coat of paint on a 2001 Honda Civic and calling it a luxury car since it’s all bright and shiny while what’s under the hood is still… à 22 years old car. I’m currently debating if I will jum on the FL Studio or Cubase bandwagon, to me, money wise, both of those daws are way more appealing and their upgrades are actually upgrades, not just a coat of paint or a brand new car stereo going back to my Civic comparaison. Thank you for taking a stand, love your channel, keep it up🍻

Gday from Western Australia. Really good appraisal. I'm just thinking about updating from 11 suite to 12 and thought I would check out what you were saying. You speak the truth. Thank you for all your efforts. Good to see young crew putting out good quality product for even us older crew.

I Never upgraded after Reason 11, Ive been looking at Logic and Abelton but I just have an easy work flow because Ive been so committed to reason but I love the honesty and truth you spoke about, Hopefully they figure it out..

I appreciate all of your content. I'm switching to Reaper. Why? Ambisonic/Spatial audio. $60 for a discounted license and $299 for a commercial license. Free upgrades for life. The fact that it is super stable is a definite plus. It is also super customizable. Been with reason since 3

True story!! All of it!! I agree 💯%‼️ Loyalty should always mean something! It’s disheartening sometimes!

Honestly, I think everything you said in this video is exactly what I’ve been thinking and feeling. I got down with reason when it was included with protools back in 2002/03. I loved it. I upgraded to reason 4, then to 8.5, then to 10 and then to 11. As you said, I LOVE Reason. But lately, I have been having some issues. Sidechaining, VST 3, and I can name more. I hardly ever use Reason instruments other than the NN-XT for my drum libraries. I have been considering different DAWs for about 6 months now and seeing this video basically cause me to understand why. I’m just simply unsatisfied. I use samples in my production and love the simplicity in Reason when timecompressing samples, but that’s not enough to keep me satisfied lately. I appreciate this video because it basically said what I guess, I didn’t want to feel. Which is… it seems like it’s time to move on. Reason 13 better have vst3 support and a simpler way to side chain or I’m most definitely in the wind. I also wouldn’t mind an option to change the color scheme of the mixer because all that white drives me bananas. It’s just not a vibe.

Great video! You nailed it!! I'm one of those users who started with Reason 1.0, and upgraded every version since, until version 10, when the commercial practices started getting questionable. With a huge investment in dozens of proprietary rack extensions and refills, I wanted to use Reason in another DAW, so upgraded to Reason 11. The Reason Rack Plug In works really well, so kudos to Reason Studios for that. Reason 12 was buggy/unstable on it's release and so when they rolled out that upgrade price increase with a short grace period, it seemed like leverage to get us to upgrade, which made me and my collaborators even more determined to wean ourselves off Reason and invest in another DAW. We chose Reaper which is cost effective, superb, super DSP friendly and works well with RRP. Now, Reasonstudios has a 60% off R12 upgrade sale, so I've upgraded, and very impressed with the stability in it's latest updates, the fast browser search and the hi-res UI's. We will see what happens moving forward! One of the ongoing attractions of Reason is the fantastic user community at ReasonTalk - it still feels tight-knit and a supportive club.

I used reason from reason 2 up to reason 8, many years.. then ended up doing other things and when i come back to production of music changed to Studio One which i found to be amazing and supported VSTs, now im looking at going back to reason because in all honesty using reason is just fun and inspirational, a weird reason, but the work flow , sound designing and production elements of reason is much more exciting and fun compared to other DAWs. not sure if this makes sense to anyone but I get much more inspiration using reason. Now is supports VST as well im definitely diving back into it!

Been with Reason since version 3. I too fell in love. I still think Reason is dope, but they're so behind sometimes it's no wonder people look at you strange when you say you use Reason as your main DAW. All the issues you mentioned with them putting profit over people is a serious problem. I hope they fix things 🙏🏽

Yep...Started with V2.0 now im on Logic FULLTIME!!!....Thanks for forcing me to convert! Logic is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Reaper: 1. 64 audio channels per mixer track 2. Advanced routing features 3. Advanced "side chaining" for All parameters 4. Built-in pitch correction (both auto & manual) 5. Great stock plugins plus use any 3rd party plugin format 6. Extremely Advanced render options & render queue with flexible naming options when rendering multiple items. 7. 16 customizable tool bars 8. Create your own keyboard shortcuts 9. Create custom macros which automates multiple commands into 1 action then map that to a keyboard shortcut 10. Portable install 11. Advanced multiple layered "track freeze" with the ability to go all the way back to the original state even after closing the project 12. Load project in offline mode to troubleshoot buggy vsts 13. Extremely low RAM & CPU usage 14. Amazing noise removal 15. Vocal alignment function built-in 16. Versatile time Stretch options 17. Open & switch between multiple sessions 18. Remote session collaboration tools (NinJAM) 19. Online repository with over 2000 community based enhancements including plugin 20. Sub-project linking 21. Remote control daw via any web browser 22. ChordGUN 23. MIDI key lock 24. Save "undo" as a part the project for unlimited "undos" at anytime 25. Loop record & create take lanes for both audio & midi to capture the perfect performance or use comping to achieve the perfect take 26. Tempo lock samples to your project with built-in sample browser 27. Delta solo 28. Ara support 29. Agnostic tracks... Meaning there are no specific track type. 30. Put Midi, audio, mono, stereo, video or image files, all on the same track 31. Media browser can show 🎶 notes being played in the sample being previewed 32. Video editing & rendering 33. Oversampling for any individual plugin 34. Oversampling for any plugin chain

Thank you for your honesty. I started feeling this way when they introduced Reason 11, but still managed to drop the money for a new copy anyway. I like their workflow and design, and I cut my teeth on Reason 8, but after almost twenty years of supporting their product, they still haven’t managed to include basic things like exporting/converting to mp3. I am looking for other options as well, sadly.

Nailed it… I’m about to bounce myself. Thanks Julee for your life long reason tutorials and music knowledge. They should be begging you for your support you have been a staple for them in social media for years.

I'm in a back to front situ to you Jelie. I bought a perpetual license upgrade from 11 to 12 Full and I've invested in a bunch of rack extensions but there are much more REs that I want but I added up even the basic reason rack extensions and the price is going to be close on to $1,000 US but with all the little bits and pieces that I love such as pink noise and DNA labs rack extensions I worked out that I'm going to be paying something like 4 to 6K and I just can't go there anymore. Just a hobby musician totally love reason to bits but this is never ending but like as you started I do have R2R 12 and a bunch of extensions and a jolly good antivirus but moralities has stopped me from doing anything and I have been in this dilemma with myself for some time. I bought kontakt 14 ultimate but those rack extensions are like candy in a sweet shop and I don't believe in subscriptions and even that is more expensive than other DAWs so I have to draw a line in the sand and say do I spend a good chunk of my savings on rack extensions that I'm just absolutely loving or do I slide over to the dark side for the sake of one DAW 😢

Great show! Thx! Started with Reason 1.0 and there has always been a Reason 2. (probably the best update) continue on this journey.

The really obnoxious thing about the features that they choose to include in each revision is that they appear to literally be ignoring simple simple things. Like grouped tracks in the sequencer. Like a simple track freeze function. LIKE BEING ABLE TO SEARCH FOR TEXT IN CLIP NAMES. I’m a software developer. These things are not hard and have been asked for for sooo long that we just feel ignored at this point.

Excellent video. Spot on. Stopped upgrading after 10. Been with them since version 4. They have lost their way so bad. 10 is still great though, although no auto-built in REX maker is really frustrating. I refuse to pay them the ransom they want just to get that feature, and subscriptions just ain't my thing. I see DAWS like Bitwig, Reaper Studio One (fantastic daws), and others offering more for their users. You know....like they care. Sad stuff. But I look at what Reason has become internally and with its user base and it's more of a cult, with users furiously defending the product as if it can do no wrong and the company believing its own hype. It's why I stopped even following it on social media. Been awhile since I've seen a video about reason on my feeds, this popped up today. I see they haven't changed. This video was SO well done and honest, I thought you were in a sponsorship with them but obviously not with these honest right on par words 🤟

As I've stated before - I've switched to Reaper as a DAW which admittedly is not for everyone. I don't make a living with a DAW, so that has a large factor into my decision process. Still, for quite some time, I was willing to pay for Reason updates from version 6 up through Reason 11. When Reason+ and 12 hit the marked I pretty much went 'meh' and moved on. Thankfully I stuck through Reason 11 so that I can run any favorite synths within Reaper if I feel the itch. Thanks for your candor discussing this topic, it needed to be said.

Sounds like "them Folks" dun pissed you off. But you were still nice about it. Crafty, the way you called them out on it. For the "Reasons" you have stated (similar type ish" with all DAW's) I find myself using them ALL for different things. You know the scary part about this is.......... This is the same way our "so-called" Government treats us at the same time depending on us to continue to operate for us? HHHHMMMMM!!!! Thank you for the time line lesson. Reason needs to get you on the payrole so they can get their ish together. I watch your channel because of YOU and not because of Reason. You have answered a lot of questions for me and I have been doin' this since "waaayy back when". Thanks again.

Thank you. Exactly how we all feel. Started off on reason 1! I'm done after reason 12. It was good while it lasted

Having been a Reason user since version one, I defected to Bitwig last year. Reason has been relegated to an occasional use as a plugin.

I would like to add yet another topic to the list. First, some context: I've been using reason since around 2001, and now I'm using version 11 Suite. I'm an instructor (I have my own academy), and one of the courses I love to teach is Reason's. And, I've "convinced" many students to buy some version of Reason (mainly because of the passion I talk about it). Here's my point: I teach classes in spanish (I live in Mexico), and I also have a website dedicated to Reason in spanish. And I've contacted Propellerhead/Reason Studios a couple of times to try to help them grow their presence and community amongst spanish speaking users/countries (with a sincere and transparent interest), yet I haven't gotten back a single reply till this day. Now, in comparison, I also teach courses on Ableton's Live. And here's the kicker, Ableton contacted me directly to do exactly what I've been proposing to Reason Studios. So, from my perspective, Reason Studios is not interested in their hardcore users base. But also, they're not interested in their spanish speaking community, and perhaps other cultures and languages as well. Thank you for your video, it's a truth a lot of us see, and we miss the golden years of Propellerhed's Reason.

All really good points. I had a chance to chat with Matthias (from Reason) at Superbooth right after they received that BIG cash infusion and dropped Proppellerhead. First, I told him they shouldn't have dropped the "Propellerhead" part of the name, IMHO (it was MUCH easier to search for online). Then I told him, "I'm worried with outside money coming into the company, the focus will shift too heavily on growth and new customers, instead of maintaining and smartly improving an amazing product." He had an uncomfortable pause and his facial expression seemed to say "oh yeah, I get you," but his response was kind of a canned, saying "well, with that money Reason will be able to move in directions they just couldn't before". And that ended up being true, just not always in a good way. As you've highlighted, they are a business too, but I think the focus has shifted TOO heavily on short term profits (have to make money for those investors!!) versus a longer term, sustainable product. I know it's not easy with software (it changes like crazy), but to keep long-time customers, you really need to consider that as well.

This is exactly why I stopped upgrading!! Thanks for this

i love reasons workflow. to me, it's absolutely perfect, and i can't even consider switching. but the fact that i've had to upgrade twice just to keep it working (old version of reason just didn't work on my new laptop), and that reason still has mediocre audio sample editing tools really make me feel like i'm holding myself back. i wish reason would update those features, FOR FREE preferably given that a lot of the upgrade price went to nothing new, and that it would finally allow better midi compatibility so i could properly export midi files and share with other producers without them all turning into piano. i'd also like for reason to finally update thor for better fm and to allow personal wavetables!!

You make some solid points, hopefully at least some of them are taken into consideration. I love Reason and like its workflow over all other daws and would like to see it continue to prosper and expand. Appreciate your videos and all of the tips that you provide - have a good one and please keep up the good work.

This was a perfect video. I started with Reason at 2.5, and carried it in my old school retail music store for years so it was a BLAST watching your look back at Reason’s history. I couldn’t agree with you more about their direction decisions.

I've been a Reason user since 3, I absolutely love this software, it gives me everything I need and more. I have no complaints whatsoever.

Review Studio One!!!!!

Ya know what? I had this same journey. I started Reason with 2.5 and I finally abandoned them last year with Reason 12. It just got too frustrating and it seemed like Propellerhead was slapping us loyal uses in the face continually. I use FL and Reaper now and life is much less complicated. I appreciate you addressing this and I am so thankful for your videos the last few years.

Came here trying to decide on 12. This is one of the best product reviews I’ve ever seen. So well written and produced. Lot of work went into this video. Instant subscribe.

7:39 as FL says “it’s quality over quantity”. They also said… “who pays for updates?” Thinking about it, there’s only one handful of DAWs that don’t charge for an upgrade. Crazy 🤔

Let me make a point against the consensus and try to bring you a software development perspective on reason roadmap (I have no insider info but 22 years xp on large software development). We can be upset because they produce a vocoder when we are waiting for sequencer improvement or vst3 but we have to acknowledge that it is not at all the same thing from software development perspective. When you produce a vocoder, you need a small team, work independently and release when they finish. Simple, risk-free and bring money. Changing a daw feature like the sequencer is a central thing, needs to involve a larger team or at least your 'core' team. And the risk of generating regressions and bug is maximum. Maybe they decided not to do immediately because they just did a major refactoring on the UI (which is by the way a great news for us because even if it doesn't bring value immediately it is an investment for the future. So as a conclusion, from a software development perspective all this is not that bad. They tried waaayyy too long to resist vst for sure but I think they try to get back on track now... Let them some time...

Wow the last minute of “has you covered” portion was pretty eye opening… thanks for posting this.

I've started producing with Reason. The Update prices always have been ridiculous. I'm glad I switch to FL Studio, eventhough Reason has some nice features. But lifetime free updates is one of the many reasons FL Studio is the best DAWs in my opinion.

I switched to Reaper, which I find much more intuitive, but still use Reason 11 a lot as a VST. There's really not much tempting me to spend more on Reason products.

Excellent video and I love the mixing desk behind you.

Agree alot with this. I started with 2.5 in 2003. Reason was a much different program back then at a different time. VSTs were fairly new and not as fully developed. Back then you needed a pretty good computer to run VSTs and a DAW. I remember working with Pro Tools LE on a G3 and you could only run about a few plugins before Pro Tools LE would stop because your computer was too slow. Reason changed the game in that you could run a full pre production studio (eg synths, samplers, sequencer, drum machines with effects) on a relatively minimally spec'd machine. No matter what I threw at Reason, it kept going. While its sequencer wasn't the best, it was great for getting ideas down fast and its best feature was that it's built-in devices integrated perfectly with it which created a unique workflow for computer based producers. Reason always had fairly slow update cycles but in the 2000s it created great game changing features that even carried over into other DAWs. Rex players, Combinators etc. At some point though Reason had to grow as VSTs were rapidly improving and DAWs started adopting some of Reason's features and improving on them. They decided to add recording, Rack Extensions, and finally VSTs. I think these three features kind of hurt Reason the most as it made Reason a more complex program that became more CPU intensive still while making minimal improvements to the sequencer. More and more pieces of the program started to feel neglected and Reason's updates started to get more controversial as their updates usually leave alot of big elephants in the room. The last few updates have been pretty upsetting as it always feel like they ignore huge portions of the program. Programs such as Ableton, Bitwig, Studio One, and Reaper are either the same age as Reason or newer programs but yet seemed to have evolved more over time to more fully featured sequencers overall. Ableton's update can seem like three major Reason releases with the amount of stuff they add. Reason's updates can be very skimpy.

Their failure to explain in simple terms WHY they simply REFUSE to implement what their users have been BEGGING for fucking YEARS is unacceptable!! Also WHY did they just completely stop making those super slick top-notch tutorials on their channels? Why do they think rambling 2 hour Livestreams are better?? It might be a Swedish thing to be this stubborn and obtuse.

Yo thanks for saying the truth. I recently have been big time on the fence whether or not to upgrade my classic reason 9 to reason 12. This video showed me that if I want to continue music production into the future, my tools need to be able to respond to changes. The workaround mentality that Reason made me believe was innovation/creative solutions, has turned out to stifle my creative process in more instances than is worth mentioning. This video inspired me to move on, and remember the good times with Reason. But I’m ready to leave the sandbox and dive into professional tools. Thank you for making this video! Keep cookin

I watched this 12 hours ago and just wanted to say - Thank You for making this!!! I think they might listen to you - while reason doesnt shy from making amazing products they have defitely developed a monetiary eco-system that is not producer friendly. I pray they listen!

This Video is completely spot on and feel the same way on most of your topics, especially where Reason doesn’t cater to the folks who brought them to this point. Long time users deserve a price break!!!! Hopefully you don’t give up on Reason as I have learned a ton from your videos and content. It would be a sad day to see you switch to another DAW, but I hear you! On a side note it is better for you to see Reason user base increase as it equates to more eyeballs on your content.

Picked up Reason 12 Full Upgrade today on sale for $79.60. I currently have version 10 which I bought 24Dec2017. Only $80 in 4 1/2 years of use to get the latest, and be in good stead for future upgrades, Pretty good deal for me. IMHO we've become pretty spoiled. Can't think of too many things that give me so much pleasure for so little money. Cheer up, life is Good!

I have to confess, I upgraded to Reason 12 paying a lot of money for high resolution graphics, as I'm using Studio One with Reason Rack Plugin. I exclusively use Reason Instruments and effects, because I love routing stuff so much, but workflow-wise there are just much better DAWs out there. Even the pay-what-you-want Open Source DAW Ardour gets constantly more features, has VST3-Support and they have basically only two developers. Also I think Reason now already has more than enough instruments and without workflow improvements Propellerheads (which is a much better name) Reason will remain relevant only as a plugin. Thanks for your great videos.

Im seriously tempted now the upgrade is 60% off. And being the only daw Ive ever really messed around with I've enjoyed it. starting to think I should do a Ableton course and move now... hmmm. Great vid, again.

You’re spot on with everything! VST3, midi routing, the sequencer, editing features and a new mixer like pro tools are what people been asking for. Not new player’s and devices. Also fix the converting audio to midi it doesn’t separate the midi notes they’re all on one note line. If FL Studio ever adds a linear workflow I’m out.

Great presentation. Been using reason since about 2.0. had to buy blue cat VST to use VST3s . Right now I'm using reason 10 and see no reason to spend.

Thank you for this comprehensive delivery of the situation. I started with ReBirth and Reason 2.5 all legit and faithfully updated over my sometime Cubase habit. I’m not the type to complain but occasionally I have felt far behind others who use other software. Last year I walked away from my own production. Some of my Reason-centric work played a part in that. Workarounds and compensating measures take their toll.

I get it I get it I really do. My version was a copied cd with reason 3 on it. I tried Ableton🤷🏿‍♂️. You are correct about the rack extensions and players. I hardly use them because they where already there in the first place 🤣🤣. The ONLY upgrade I've asked for was live chopping , like you can do with the MPC. (To no avail). I've heard and seen what others can and have done with other DAWs and it wasn't enough to make me switch. I stopped the upgrades at 10.4 because I can get what I need done with that version and the 3rd party plugins I actually like(and use). I still want the ability to load a sampled loop and just chop it in real time. I had MPC studio but ehhh. I like the ssl mixer, the ability to record vocals right inside the DAW ect ect. I probably won't upgrade and seriously doubt I'll switch either. It'll make since to Reason Studios once users from the propellerhead days withdraw all support. As of RIGHT NOW I haven't seen or heard a big enough difference to make my switch.

You could be my vice president anyday. Very well put together. Im just pissed that after 3 or 4 years of using Bluecat Patchwork to use Scaler 2 (Scaler 1 then) Propellerhead still hasnt fixed that. I got tired of using Reason because everyone knoe Bluecat makes an outstanding product but the cpu using them then scaler or instachord is a cpu killer.

I 100% agree! I love Reason and use it since the first version and even used Rebirth back in the day. Always felt like working in a box when using Reason and learned a lot of those workarounds. But yeah, it shouldn't feel like you are in a box and there still is a lot of work to do. Still use Reason for 90% of my productions, but I also use Ableton more and more as the workflow is just waaaaaay faster (just try to start stop loops like in Ableton in Reason and get frustrated). Have used almost every DAW there is. Still like you said, Reason is my go to DAW today because of the love for it.

Honest words, true words. I am a reason user since v2.0 back in 2003. The last upgrade I bought was 11. I am not willing to upgrade any further or get into a subscription

Great video , I am on R-11 won't be upgrading, I also have Studio One 5.5.2, dopest DAW. I love Reason mixer, and I love the 3rd party refills which are dope. I have the dopest sounds, Omnisphere 2.8, Korg Triton, extreme, and wavestation. All the Roland stuff and the list goes on. I'm good. Reason is dope, but at this time, my focus is else where.

You've come a long way. I remember years back when I said "you are great, should have more subs" well you got it now. Peace. Good video. Reason, like Final Cut, are greedy and legacy customers are forgotten just like landlords forget the long-term renters and kick them out or deny services as the new tenants get all the newest appliances and respect. Capitalism.

I tried them all, I own Fl studios and Music maker while holding two other subscriptions and spent over a thousand on plugins and instruments along with loops, and after three months of having It all, i found reasons. I also discovered that all Daws appeal to how each user learns, adapts and use their brains. Reasons so far is my favorite! Im in love!

This is a great review. I hope Reason is taking notes.

Started with R9-R11. Using Maschine Mk3 now. I jump into Reason Rack inside Maschine once in awhile for certain sounds. This setup (for now) works best for me. Thanks for the vid.

Very awesome!!! I am newly subscribing here. Getting back into making music on my laptop. It has been YEARS! I stopped at Reason 5 ish, when it was still Propellerhead and Record was just coming out. This is super helpful thanks!!

I definitely see and respect all your points and they were very well expressed. I also have not upgraded to 12 yet for the may of the same reasons and wouldn't argue them at all ......But Reason doesn't crash and I can load all the songs I have ever worked on since reason 3 up to 11 and Everything is present and correct with zero missing files or effects or settings at any time...No other DAW could have done for all this time and I am an Old Fella with a lot of years of work behind me that I often have to return to and thats the main reason i still use reason for 80% of my work. I have used All the better DAWs since steinbergs pro 16 on the commodore 64 came out many decades ago and None have had proper backwards compatability like Reason has always had. The other reasons are It just sounds warmer and crisper in a very analogue way than Ableton as a for instance....And the Time stretching and pitch functions in Reason are way superior for me...But its Horses for Courses.... Great video love your work ;)

Great video. I'm a Pro Tools user, but I've owned Reason and used it from v2.5 to v6. I bought the upgrade to v11/12 to help my friend with some mixing stuff, and they really want me to pay extra for a drum sequencer? I think they should have just provided the new "player device bundle" as included functionality an incentive to upgrade, some of this stuff like drum sequencing should be core functionality.

I upgraded to v11 but rarely use it exclusively. I also bought an Akai MPC Live 2 and mostly use Reason as a sound module for that. A few months ago I grabbed up FL 20 ALL bundle- had to, the price was just to good. I haven't used FL20 since my purchase, but when I do- I already know that all the capabilities are already there AND up to date. I fell in love with Reason at version 5, but for me I think my upgrading will stop at 11. Idk, its like RS actually thought that having Ryan create a SP patch would help people decide to upgrade or buy their product. I like Ryan, but anytime I see a new post from him I see RS unleashing their resident snake charmer. Good stuff Jelie...you said what a lot of others won't say. Peace and Nappiness!

Would love to see an annual update on this. I came in at 5, like many, bought up to 11, invested thousands and ended up having to hop on the monthly train in order to use VST3 plugins. I agree with your entire assessment. I feel like I’ve paid for many things twice and now I’m paying for them yet again, monthly. I will always have my 11, so if the rental ever becomes unstable again, even once, I’ll finally look at alternatives. Reason is a beautiful thing, but they have never listened to their user base and the new owners definitely haven’t changed that. The road map thing is hilarious, like a meaningless mission statement.

Thanks for the insights and overview, I'm liking your channel! As someone who's more of an Ableton Live user, I find the Reason rack a creative departure from Live, and have been enjoying Reason+ and it's weekly packs for inspiration. I pretty quickly determined that Reason didn't provide many advantages for me as a DAW, but I do love using the Reason Rack as a Plug-In.

great video. awesome tone, and your delivery is all fact no filler.

Great video, had no idea about the white labelling. I actually started out on Reason 4, and switched over to ableton some time after record came out, due to the lack of VST support. I tried to come back several times over the years, but the workflow was always just so slow in comparison to other DAW's that I couldn't really take it. I think the most obvious example of this was how you have to set up sidechain with wires. (Or practically anything) Basically the thing that made it appealing was also the thing that became its detriment.

This is right on point! I have been using reason for 20 years, and I my feeling are similar.